Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 45
॥
Devanāgarī
वनेष्वेवं मथुरास्वेवं द्वादश मूर्तयो भवन्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
vaneṣvevaṁ mathurāsvevaṁ dvādaśa mūrtayo bhavanti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वनेषु एवम्vaneṣu evamso in the woods; in the groves in this way
मथुरासु एवम्mathurāsu evamand so in the Mathurās; and in the places of Mathurā likewise
द्वादश मूर्तयः भवन्तिdvādaśa mūrtayaḥ bhavantithere are twelve forms; the forms prove to be twelve
Translation
So in the woods and in the places of Mathurā there are twelve forms.
Version
91fb5c5a443d · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:30:24 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A number closes the description: twelve woods, twelve forms.
The word mathurāsu stands in the plural, which is unusual; commentators take it as "in the places of Mathurā", that is, in the district and not in a single city. The abode is conceived as a region with many centres.
The correspondence of woods and forms is not accidental. The same cast of thought was at work in the Pūrva-tāpanī: five words of the mantra, five elements, and all of it one Kṛṣṇa. Here: twelve groves, twelve manifestations, and all of them He.
This is the answer to Gāndharvī's question about the Lord's "place": He has not one point on a map but a country in which every place has its own form.
Next the book will pass from the woods to the city itself: the following mantras will describe Mathurā and why it is called higher than the other holy places.